Man killed by truck at gas station as he fled immigration agents in St. Augustine

A 28-year-old man died Tuesday morning following an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations agents in St. Augustine, marking the third death involving ICE in a week.

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The man fled agents and was hit by a truck, Florida Highway Patrol Master Sergeant Dylan Bryan told the Miami Herald. FHP was not involved in the operation, but is currently investigating the incident, which took place shortly before 7 a.m.

“Preliminary information revealed that an encounter between HSI and ICE agents occurred in the parking lot of a local gas station/convenience store,” Bryan wrote in a statement. He said that four people ran off and one was hit by a tractor-trailer after running across State Road 16.

The immigration status and nationality of the victim are unclear, as is the reason immigration agents were involved.

The tractor-trailer driver stopped and tried to help the victim, Bryan said. A photo published by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office shows a truck for the company Eggland’s Best blocking the highway.

Bryan referred questions about the encounter to ICE. Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately confirmed that the incident had taken place or responded to Herald inquiries. ICE handles detentions and deportations of immigrants. HSI is the law enforcement arm of Homeland Security and has been involved in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies responded to help FHP with the investigation.

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This is the third person to have died in an incident involving ICE since July 7. At least three other people have been hit by cars and killed while fleeing immigration authorities since August 2025. The deaths come as federal and state agencies in Florida have been picking up people at workplaces, public sites, and streets under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that ICE had suspended traffic stops after two fatal shootings over the last week.

On July 7, ICE agents in Texas fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado, an undocumented father from Mexico. While the agency said Salgado tried to run over officers with his car, his family has disputed that version of events. In Maine on Monday, a 26-year-old man from Colombia died when ICE agents were pursuing another target, according to officials and lawmakers.

The deaths have sparked outrage from community leaders, lawyers, and lawmakers, who say that the Trump administration is not holding its officers accountable for their treatment of immigrants.

“Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was a father who spent decades building homes and providing for his family. He was gunned down in the street by an agent in an unmarked car from an agency with a horrific track record of violence and no accountability. My heart breaks for his wife and three sons,” said State Rep. Angie Nixon, of Jacksonville, in a statement.

It’s not the first time during the Trump administration that someone is killed by a moving vehicle while running away from ICE. In August 2025 in Los Angeles, an SUV on a freeway hit and killed Roberto Carlos Valdez, a Guatemalan fleeing from an ICE raid at a Home Depot in Los Angeles. Jose Castro-Rivera, a Honduran immigrant, died in October when running away after a traffic stop on a highway in Norfolk.

Read more Man dies during immigration encounter in Florida, the third ICE-involved death in a week

This is a breaking story. Please check back for updates.

This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 2:57 PM.